Status:	Final
Date:	27 NOV 2004
Time:	08:20
Type:	CASA C-212 Aviocar 200
Operating for:	United States Department of Defense
Leased from:	Presidential Airways
Registration:	N960BW
C/n / msn:	231
First flight:	1982-01-04 (22 years 11 months)
Total airframe hrs:	21489
Engines:	2 Garrett TPE331-10R-511C
Crew:	Fatalities: 3 / Occupants: 3
Passengers:	Fatalities: 3 / Occupants: 3
Total:	Fatalities: 6 / Occupants: 6
Airplane damage:	Written off
Airplane fate:	Written off (damaged beyond repair)
Location:	148 km (92.5 mls) W of Bagram (Afghanistan)
Phase:	En route (ENR)
Nature:	Military
Departure airport:	Bagram Air Base (BPM/OAIX), Afghanistan
Destination airport:	Farah Airport (FAH/OAFR), Afghanistan

Narrative:
The CASA 212 was contracted by the US Department of Defense to supply American forces deployed in remote areas of Afghanistan. After departure the did not follow the inteneded course of 170 degrees but instead flew to the northwest. The airplane entered a box canyon and struck the 14,650 foot level of Baba Mountain, which has a peak elevation of 16,739 feet. The flight was about 25 nm north of the typical route between Bagram and Farah.

PROBABLE CAUSE: "The captain’s inappropriate decision to fly a nonstandard route and his failure to maintain adequate terrain clearance, which resulted in the inflight collision with mountainous terrain. Factors were the operator’s failure to require its flight crews to file and to fly a defined route of flight, the operator’s failure to ensure that the flight crews adhered to company policies and FAA and DoD Federal safety regulations, and the lack of in-country oversight by the FAA and the DoD of the operator. Contributing to the death of one of the passengers was the operator’s lack of flight-locating procedures and its failure to adequately mitigate the limited communications capability at remote sites."

Events:

Sources:
» AP
» NTSB